


Keeping Afloat: Extra - Keeping Afloat week

by billie758657



Series: Keeping Afloat [2]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: F/M, extra, for keeping afloat week on tumblr, read after chapter 29 of keeping afloat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 18:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6126382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billie758657/pseuds/billie758657
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keeping Afloat hit it's one year anniversary this month. I got asked to write a little about what some of the gladers thought about Ebony and here it is. Thought I'd put it up here too for those of you who don't follow me on <a href="www.hopelesstmrblogger.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>. :) Please read after chapter 28, just to avoid spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Minho

Ebony? What’s not to like? Alright, keep your undies on - I mean, listen. She comes out of the box, completely stumps us all. No one would have blamed her for being scared - the shanks here aren’t exactly all sunshine and rainbows if you know what I mean. And no, I’m not saying she wasn’t freaked out at first, everyone else is when they first get here I guess, but Ebony just keeps surprising me. So I suppose that’s one thing I like so much about her. 

I remember the first time I saw her run, it’s hard to explain - I’m not exactly shakespeare, but I just knew she was special. She was exactly what we needed. We’d had a pretty shucked up month and that’s saying something by my standards. I was two runners down and going out of my mind trying to figure out how I was going to make it work, then I see Ebby sprinting across the glade - to get water to put out the fire she’d started in the med-jack’s hut? Don’t ask. Anyway, she was fast, and made running look effortless. I just knew she was made to be a runner.

I guess that doesn’t really answer your question though huh? So I’ll cut to the chase. I admire her. Of course I do! She’s pretty much the bravest person I’ve ever met. -So what if she gets scared? She doesn’t cry like a whiny baby about it does she? She gets on with things, always worrying about other people, always trying to keep going. She admits things, she’s honest, she lets shanks in - always trying to see the best in people. Y’know how hard that is to do in here? When everyone’s looking at you - and she’s the only girl, so she does stand out no matter what anyway - and they’re just waiting for you to crack? Or looking up to you so you need to set an example? It’s hard dude. And there’s Ebby, being all open and vulnerable, letting people take care of her and at the same time, taking no klunk from no one - that’s brave. I mean, yeah it took a while for her to let me in but to be honest, she’s pretty transparent - You can always tell when something is wrong. And she hurts just like the rest of us do, but she always just keeps going. I don’t mind saying that when I’m struggling, I think of her and what she would say, or do. 

Besides that, she just always seems to find a way to balance me out. You saw how I was when Jamal died right? Everyone did. But somehow she managed to make things a little better just by being there. I don’t feel so alone when I’m with her y’know? I feel calmer, things look easier - she gives me hope when it starts getting hard to come by. Somehow manages to make me smile in the process more often than not. I don’t think she even realises the effect she has - and I know it’s not just with me, but still. How could I not love her? 


	2. Gally

Ebony? Sure. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to talk about though? Some things I just can’t - We’ll see. Anyway, what I like so much about Ebby? Alright.

I’ve seen her before. That much I can say. I got stung a couple of weeks before she arrived in the Glade but I saw her face every night in between. Still do sometimes but that’s against the point. Thought I was hallucinating when I first saw her in the box. On my box day too. Don’t tell her about it though. It’s not that I want to lie to her, it’s just that I can’t - literally can’t talk about it. So it’s not fair to make her think I know something about her, when in reality I - I - Nope. Shuck. Nah, can’t do it. Moving on.

I guess after I got over that, I just figured she stood out because she was the only girl. It wasn’t until Paul dragged her - unconscious, out of the maze the day after Sam died that I realised it was more than that. They day we all thought she’d gotten locked in was worse though - it was just like everything in my head had stopped working all at once. Shuck.

Mostly though, she just makes me so frustrated, never thinking about her own safety, never thinking about what the consequences to her actions might be. She just storms right ahead and does. And what’s more maddening is the fact that I can’t even stay mad at her. Like, I’m ready to bust I’m so angry with her, but when it comes down to it? Nothing. I think it’s cause she cares so much, about everything. she just gets this look about her, and then you know that she gets it and that she’s sorry or whatever and the that’s it. I just can’t see her like that and still be annoyed. I mean, I know she’s not - far from it, but sometimes, she just looks so small and fragile. I just want to keep her safe. Sometimes she lets me too - I’ll find her waiting for me in my hammock or she’ll find me and talk for a while. I like how she feels comfortable enough to do that - and I know it’s not just me she’s like that with but still. Sometimes when I can’t sleep I’ll check on her to make sure she’s okay, cause of her nightmares y’know?

And then there’s the fact that she’s secretly hilarious too. I mean, we all know it, but she doesn’t which makes it even funnier. And adorable too I guess… She’s just a good person all round. Annoying and  stubborn too, but I guess that’s not a bad thing. 


	3. Newt

What do I like so much about Ebony? Alright.

Well, I didn’t properly meet her for a month or two really. I didn’t believe Alby at first that she was even here. I’d spent most of Greenie day arguing with him - I guess we’re both stubborn, then he comes back in and tells me there’s a girl here. Yeah, sure. I suppose I was being a bit of a slinthead, but I had my reasons. Anyway, I caught a glimpse of her a couple of days later and I realised he was telling the truth. 

It was during her first week. I was laid up in bed and she was doing her trials with Clint, seeing if she was cut out to be a Med-Jack. And I don’t know what was going on or what she was doing but I remember hearing her laugh. It stood out, because I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard someone laugh. I saw her through the crack in the door too, but I guess she was told not to come into my room - don’t blame them really I probably would have said something I’d regret  I couldn’t get the sound out of my head, kept thinking about it over and over. I don’t get it really, but it changed things.I felt like there was a chance, like I’d found a little bit of hope. ‘Cause if they had sent up a girl, then there must be a reason right? Everything the creators do is for a bloody reason.

Pretty sure I was right too, cause when I finally left that god damn awful hut, she was a runner - and a good one too if Paul was telling the truth. But it was more than that. When I finally got to talk to her I realised it was more than that. Ebby just seems to radiate hope. She wants to believe the best in everything, that anything is possible and it’s contagious. She makes you want things to be better too. And she cares - so much so that you can’t help but care back - she’ll help anyone that she can. Just everything about her draws you in, even when she’s being grumpy, it’s adorable. I don’t even think she realises just how much she does for everyone - how much she’s done for me, just by being herself. 

On my two year anniversary, everything just go to be too much - so I went off on my on. She noticed. Noticed that I wasn’t there and left the bloody party to come and find me. I still feel kind of bad about asking her to kiss me, I don’t think I should have pushed her like that - but it was incredible. To feel so close to her, to just - I think I fell in love with her all over again right there. But I’m trying to give her space, like I said, I don’t want to push her into anything so I kinda told her it wasn’t a big deal. Just like how I made sure I wasn’t around when she fell asleep on me a few months ago - I don’t want to make things awkward or more difficult for her. She smelled like the strawberries she’d been picking all day. 

So to answer your question, I like Ebony so much because she is Ebony. There’s not really any other kind of way to describe her. She gives us - me, hope. 


	4. Paul

What I like about Ebony? I like most things about Ebbs so- Oh you want details? Fine I suppose I’ll tell you. Ha!

Gonna be honest. When Minho first told me this she-bean was going to be a runner, after only being here for about a week I laughed at him. Told him he was being a stupid slinthead too actually. I mean, I’d seen her around, but I don’t suppose I paid much attention. Everyone else was rambling on about her and ogling after her so much I got pretty sick of it after a couple of days.

So then, that shank decides to pair her up with me - why he didn’t want to be the one to train her is anyone’s guess. Maybe he was still too wound up after what happened to Newt and Gally. Anyway, I didn’t really have very high expectations going in there with here. I knew she could run, but it takes more than that to be a runner. 

She hated me after that first day - I would have hated me too if I was her. I was such a slinthead, pushing her really hard, harder than I maybe should have. She took it like a runner though. Have to admit I was pretty impressed too, she didn’t complain once - probably trying to prove a point ‘cause she’s stubborn like that but still. I had a lot of respect for her when she showed up the next day, sore but still ready to do it all over again. I didn’t really realise it, but she made the daily runs in the maze a lot more enjoyable. I got to teach her everything I know too - I was pretty proud when she was ready to set off on her own, though I definitely missed the company. Don’t tell her that though okay? Okay.

That aside? There’s just something about her. She feels like home. Sounds stupid, but that’s the best way I can explain it. It’s like, I can just be myself with her and not have to worry about how I act or what I say. She just accepts me for me and I do the same for her. Sure, we get on each other’s nerves, but in all honesty, she is the person I feel the closest to out of all the shanks in the glade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find other Keeping Afloat week extras [here](www.hopelesstmrblogger.com/tagged/ka+week). :)


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